


Something Autumn

by limitedkana



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 06:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21050192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limitedkana/pseuds/limitedkana
Summary: In which Shiho learns to enjoy the fruits of her labor





	Something Autumn

“Yabuki-san, this is not the time to be fooling around..”

The brunette watched her sigh come out as a puff of white air in front of her, adjusting the knit cap atop her head and leaning against the rake she had pushed into the dirt only a few minutes earlier. The air was cool this afternoon, verging on bitter, and in a way Shiho was grateful for the more somber weather starting to roll in. Everything seemed to slow down in the autumn, not including idol activities, and it was nice to be able to go outside and get away from her work persona for a while. Not that Shiho disliked her job as an idol of course, but she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit it could get a little taxing after a while.

Today though, she was not inside the theater for her job. The staff had given her the task of helping to rake the leaves that had collected in the front yard, and Shiho had no reason to refuse. It was more manual labor than dancing and singing for sure, but it was a change of pace and it gave her some time to be alone with herself, to reflect on her work up until this point and to finally try and figure out just how she wanted to portray herself going forward.

However, Shiho was starting to realize the person she was helping wasn’t exactly as diligent as she had originally thought.

Her companion was fellow fourteen year old Yabuki Kana, and if Shiho had a one-hundred yen coin for how many differences there were between them, she would at least be two-thousand yen richer by now. Kana wasn’t a bad girl by any means; none of the idols in 765PRO were anything that could even come close to being described as ‘bad’, but she definitely had her own way of doing things. Shiho had known her for almost a year at this point, but it was still something she would have to get used to.

Kana whined against the handle of her own rake, pouting and looking pitifully across the clearing to meet Shiho’s gaze, “Shiho-chaaaan, we’ve been working for hours! Come on, let’s take a break!”  
“Yabuki-san, it's been less than forty five minutes..”

“Pleeeease, Shiho!”

Shiho shook her head, pushing her rake further into the ground and rubbing her face with her palm. “Fine. Five minutes and then it’s back to work.” She looked over at the pile of leaves they had been working to build and wondered what percent Kana had actually contributed to.

Of course, Kana’s mind seemed to be off somewhere else for the time being. She happily tossed her gloves into the grass below her feet, pushing her cowlick out of her face and adjusting her cap. Her seemingly aching body was suddenly cured of its ailments at the prospect of a break, and Shiho couldn’t help but wonder if Kana knew just how easily she could manipulate people. All in innocent fun, of course.

“Shiho-chan~ It's almost Halloween, you know~” The two were soon sitting under the tree whose leaves were now scattered in the yard, Shiho picking at her nails and Kana happily taking advantage of the brunette’s personal space. “Are you going to dress up this year? Hehe, I feel like a scarecrow would suit you~!”

Shiho blushed at that, quickly turning her head away. “A scarecrow..? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ah, I didn’t mean it in a bad way!” Kana rubbed the back of her neck, quickly trying to explain herself, “It’s just, you’re not very sociable, and you like being outside.. it reminded me of a scarecrow, heh..” She trailed off upon seeing the frown on Shiho’s face deepen. “Nevermind..”

The brunette twirled a strand of hair around her fingers, suddenly starting to giggle a bit. “Yabuki-san, you're afraid of ghosts, aren't you?”

Kana jerked a bit, stuffing her hands in her coat pockets. “W-where did you hear that?! O-of course not! They’re just silly stories, it's not like ghosts are real..!”

“So, you wouldn’t mind me dressing up as one for Halloween~?”

“Don’t tease me like that, Shiho-chan!”

Shiho laughed at just how flustered the redhead could get, sighing and shaking her head. “I’m only joking, Yabuki-san.” Her gaze drifted back to their leaf pile and then to the remaining work in front of them, and after a few moments more the brunette hauled herself up off the ground. “It's time to get back to work, Kana.”

There were no protests this time. Shiho went to retrieve her rake and had nearly gotten it over her shoulder when a sudden clump of wetness hit her back, causing her to nearly stumble on the uneven ground. 

“Hey! What the hell was..!”

Kana stood behind her, a clump from their pile in her hands and a shit eating grin on her face. “You shouldn't tease me like that, Kitazawa-san~”

Shiho shook her head, chewing the inside of her cheek to keep herself from yelling. “Kana, I told you it's not time to be goofing around. Come on, let's go..”

She was about to turn towards the theater when Kana caught her wrist.

“Let's go, Kana,” she repeated.

“You don't have to be in work mode all the time, Shiho-san..” Kana’s voice was soft, not her usual sing-song timbre. “I know you take being an idol seriously, and I know you want to help your mom, but it's okay to have fun, too..”

Shiho didn't meet her gaze at first, her words directed towards the ground, “I have fun on stage, Yabuki-san. That's all I need.”

“Don’t you want to act like a kid sometimes, though?” Kana was pulling her along now, skipping and hopping around as if there weren’t another care in the world. “Look, Shiho-chan! We can pretend the yard is a stage, or play hide and seek, or have dance lessons out here! Being an idol doesn’t have to be ‘professional’ all of the time, sometimes it's just about having fun-”

It was at that moment Kana tripped over a foot in the ground, falling backward into their pile and taking Shiho with her. There was an array of autumn colors surrounding them now, browns and oranges and reds all mixing together to create the perfect fall palette. Shiho watched as her cap was swallowed under the debris, sitting up after a few dazed minutes and looking over at the redhead. 

“Yabuki-san, are you hurt?”

In true Kana fashion, the redhead only laughed it off, not so subtly nursing the knot on her head with her palm. “Only a little..” She sat up eventually, taking Shiho’s hand in her own. “It was fun though, wasn’t it? Not everyday you get to play in the leaves at work~!”

Shiho sighed in relief and slight annoyance, shaking her head as she had so many times that day. “...Maybe a little, Kana..”

The brunette turned bright red as Kana stood up, leaving her in the grass with a simple “This isn’t the time to be fooling around, Kitazawa-san~”


End file.
